Power line filter and surge protection circuit components and circuits

ABSTRACT

The invention is directed to power line filter and surge protection circuit components and the circuits in which they are used to form a protective device for electrical equipment. The circuit components comprise wafers or disks of material having desired electrical properties such as varistor or capacitive characteristics. The disks are provided with electrode patterns on surfaces thereof which coact with apertures formed therein so as to electrically connect the components to electrical conductors of a system easily and effectively. The electrode patterns act in conjunction with one another to form common electrodes with the material interposed therebetween. The electrode patterns are optimized in the circuit components such that balanced protection is achieved over all electrical conductors. The components also eliminate the use of leads such that operating characteristics are improved significantly. The invention provides an easily manufactured and cost effective construction usable in a variety of applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electrical surge protection devicein conjunction with a filter for filtering electromagnetic interference(EMI) or radio frequency interference (RFI). More particularly, theinvention relates to a phase balanced surge protection and filteringdevice which may be used to protect sensitive electronic orelectromechanical equipment from electromagnetic pulse EMP, transientsurges or EMI wherever differential or common mode protection would berequired or where cross line protection is required. Additionally, theinvention may be used by electronic equipment manufacturers to complywith various regulatory requirements related to electromagneticsusceptibility and emissions or the like created by such equipment.

The majority of electronic equipment produced presently, and inparticular computers, communication systems, military surveillanceequipment, stereo and home entertainment equipment, televisions andother appliances include miniaturized components and electrical contactswhich according to the materials from which they are made or their meresize are very susceptible to stray electrical energy created byelectromagnetic interference or voltage transients occurring onelectrical lines. Voltage transients can severely damage or destroy suchelectronic components or contacts thereby rendering the electronicequipment inoperative, and requiring extensive repair and/or replacementat great cost.

Transient voltages occurring on electrical lines can be induced bylightning which produces extremely large potentials in a very shorttime. These potentials are transmitted via the electrical line toequipment coupled thereto. In a similar manner, extremely detrimentaltransients could be induced by electromagnetic energy created by anuclear electromagnetic pulse EMP wherein intense transient electric andmagnetic fields having very short rise times and large frequencyspectrums are produced. Other sources of large voltage transients arefound to be associated with voltage surges occurring upon the switchingoff or on of some electronic power equipment as well as ground loopinterference caused by varying ground potentials.

Electrical interference in the form of EMI or RFI can be induced intoelectrical lines from such sources as radio broadcast antennas or otherelectromagnetic wave generators. Alternatively, another source ofinterference is found to be generated from equipment coupled to theelectrical lines, such as computers, switching power supplies and avariety of other components, which may generate significant interferencewhich is desired to be filtered.

Based upon the known phenomena of transient voltage surges and harmfulelectrical interference or noise, a variety of filter and surgesuppression circuit configurations have been designed to filter EMI orRFI interference or suppress large transient voltages appearing on anelectrical line. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,485, ZnO surgearresters are utilized to replace existing capacitors in an electricalcircuit having capacitive elements with values of up to approximately100 nF. The ZnO surge arresters behave as capacitors at voltages lessthan their pick up voltage but would pass into a highly conductive stateand limit the voltage after such pick up level has been attained. Inthis way, providing ZnO surge arresters in conjunction with a low passfilter in the manner of this invention will limit voltage surges,emissions and susceptibility as desired.

In U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,386, there is shown a power receptacle and anassociated filter to limit EMI and RFI. The RFI/EMI filter is placed inseries with an electrically isolated outlet of the power supply systemto thereby protect the electronic equipment coupled to the isolatedoutlet. The filter includes a series of capacitors coupled to a pair ofchokes which are in turn coupled to additional capacitors including acommon mode bypass capacitor. The circuit essentially forms a low passfilter utilized to eliminate electromagnetic interference occurring athigher frequencies. The circuit may additionally include surgeprotection comprising three varistors wherein one varistor is coupled toeach output terminal of the circuit for common mode protection.

In the above examples, electromagnetic interference filters may bemodified to include some form of surge protection or both. The filterand surge protection circuitry may be incorporated into a device, suchas a power supply, in order to provide noise reduction and surgeprotection. Although known filter circuits and/or surge suppressioncircuits may be easily incorporated into some electronic devices, manytimes the incorporation of standard circuit components with leads on acircuit board or the like may present problems due to the leads slowingthe protective capabilities of the circuit and the bulk of the circuitsor the cost thereof. In many situations, electronic devices are notmanufactured with protective circuitry, and the user must provideadequate protection at the point of use of the electronic equipment.

Based upon the foregoing, there was found a need to provide point of usesurge suppression or electromagnetic interference filtering which can beeasily retrofit into the electronic equipment or placed external to theequipment and positioned between the power cables, data cables or otherlines which may couple the equipment to a source of interference orpossible voltage surges. In this respect, point of use protectiondevices have been developed as for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,485which shows a voltage surge protector for suppressing transient surgesat the location of an electrical outlet. The device mounts on the backside portion of an electrical outlet and includes surge protectioncomponents therein such as planar varistors which are interposed betweenthe power source and the device to be coupled thereto.

In another example, as found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,760, electricalsurge protection is provided by a ZnO non-linear resistor device whichis in the form of a circular ZnO disk incorporated into a mainselectrical plug. A transient overvoltage at any of the plug pins will besuppressed by break down of a respective one or more of the non-linearresistors so as to conduct the transient to ground. The non-linearresistor device is constructed as a disk of non-linear resistor materialhaving a plurality of discrete first electrodes formed on one surfacefor cooperation with a second electrode formed on the other surface ofthe disk. In the configuration, the first electrodes are spaced apartfrom each other on one surface of the disk by a distance relative to thethickness of the disk so as to make the differential surge currentconduction path through the disk to the second electrode thereon.Particularly, the first electrodes must be spaced apart by a distance atleast equal to or greater than twice the thickness of the disk. Thedevice is designed to produce a permanent short-circuit through thedevice between the respective pair of electrodes when a surge occursacross the ZnO varistor material disposed between the electrodes.

In another example, as found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,589, a voltagelimiting feed-through device is disclosed which includes shunt elementsconnected between a conductor of the feed-through unit and a conductingwall through which the conductor passes. The shunt elements have firstand second contact surfaces having a conducting coating and are formedfrom a varistor material such as ZnO. The construction provides asymmetrical configuration in order to guarantee an even thermal stresson the individual shunt elements in the event of a transient surgevoltage. The voltage limiting feed-though units of this invention aresuitable for use with conductors which serve to transmit relatively lowfrequency signals. This construction may be imbalanced with respect tothe electrodes due to differences in the thicknesses or the dielectricconstants of the shunt elements.

In all, although some point of use protective devices have beendeveloped, a problem exists with enabling both electromagneticinterference and transient voltages to be effectively protected againstusing an inexpensive device which is both easily manufactured andhandled. Additionally, transient overvoltage protection circuitrynecessarily must be balanced between electrical lines in a multi-linesystem to preclude the possibility that a high voltage will be generateddue to an unbalanced voltage potential across the lines in the circuit.Another problem with prior art constructions is that each electricalcomponent in the circuit includes leads, wherein the lead lengthsinherently will induce back EMF into the circuit and slow the clampingor filtering characteristics of the device. This problem would beincreased by balancing the electrodes which would require additionalleads.

It has therefore been found that a common electrode between possibleelements to create such a balance is desirable. In this regard, therehas been developed a three electrode surge arrester formed from a threeterminal gas filled tube arrester. The gaps of the individual electrodesare within a single gas filled envelope and therefore tightly coupledsuch that breakdown of one gap leads to virtually simultaneous breakdownof the other two gaps within the gas filled tube. This gas filled tubearrester has been developed by Harmon Electronics, but has severaldeficiencies in that the circuit is relatively slow to recover and isbulky with labor intensive manufacture. Although the three electrodeconfiguration creates the balance needed between lines in a system,these circuits do not have EMI suppression capabilities. Additionally,the construction is based upon reducing capacitance in the circuit whichis contrary to suppressing EMI by maximizing capacitance.

It has also been found that conventional protective circuits which haveattempted to provide surge protection and filtering normally wouldrequire more MOV material for higher overvoltages which adverselyeffects the capacitance value of the components. Generally, the priorart conditioning filters and pulse limiting circuits won't havesufficiently high capacitance as single sheets of material. Multilayerstacks of material which are monolithically fired to form a unit areknown and can be used to form multilayer ceramic capacitors for example.Thus, to obtain the desired capacitance, the voltage potential acrossthe component is reduced and the arrangement cannot be used is some highvoltage applications. There is thus a need to provide a conditioningcircuit arrangement wherein the desired capacitance values may bemaintained for the filtering while increasing the voltages which will beeffectively clamped by a surge protection device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Based upon the foregoing, there has been found a need to provide aprotective device which allows protection against electromagneticinterference, electromagnetic pulses and electrical surges which maytend to damage electrical and electromechanical instrumentation orequipment. For protection from surges, the device should be extremelyfast in clamping the over voltage and also fast to recover. It istherefore a main object of the invention to provide an easilymanufactured and adaptable circuit arrangement having line conditioningcircuit components for point of use applications or circuit arrangementswhich can be retrofit or included in electrical and electromechnicalinstrumentation to provide protection therefore. The line conditioningcircuit components include electrode patterns provided on the circuitelements wherein the electrode arrangement is optimized to avoid the useof any lead lengths and thereby minimize back EMF in the circuit as wellas assembly labor. The components may be designed as multilayerassemblies which can be soldered or monolithically fired.

It is another object of the invention to provide a protective circuitarrangement which lends itself to be mass produced for variousapplications and is adaptable to include one or more protective circuitcomponents into one circuit to provide protection against voltagetransients, and electromagnetic interference.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide an electricalcircuit construction which reduces assembly labor and handling andreduces the costs associated with providing line conditioning orprotective circuitry for electrical equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide circuits to protectsensitive electronic equipment from EMP, surges, lightening, or EMIwherever differential or common mode protection or cross line protectionwould be required.

Another object of the invention is to provide separate surge protectionand filter circuit components which are easily used in conjunction withone another but maintain the conjunction with one another but maintainthe necessary capacitance and also increase the voltage rating of thesurge protection device.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention are accomplishedby line conditioning circuit components and circuits in which thesecomponents are utilized to provide protection against transients and/orfiltering. The line conditioning circuit components may be used in acircuit arrangement wherein they may be a first pair of terminalscoupled in series between a load. The circuit arrangement may compriseat least one line conditioning circuit component made of a MOV or otherMOV-type varistor material which is constructed as a flat plate or waferhaving first and second parallel surfaces thereon. Electrode patternsare provided on the first and second surfaces thereof and includesapertures therethrough wherein the electrode surfaces will beelectrically connected to the electrical conductors of the circuit. Thenovel electrode patterns of the invention in conjunction with thematerial making up the wafers produce commonality between electrodes forthe electrical conductors, thereby producing a balanced circuitarrangement. Alternatively, or in conjunction with this type of lineconditioning circuit component, a capacitor network may be constructedin a similar manner to provide flat plates or wafers of dielectricmaterial. The capacitive network may be provided by fusing together thinfilm ceramics having pattern coated electrodes formed thereon such thatin their stacked position the thin film ceramics will provide thedesired capacitance to achieve various filtering effects. The circuitcan additionally include an inductor or choke means which will furtheradd filtering characteristics to the circuit.

Normally, intimacy or commonality between electrodes is not desirable asall conductors in a circuit are directly connected to the groundcircuit. In the present invention, intimacy of electrodes is desirableas the line conditioning circuit components may be positioned very closeto the incoming or outgoing electrical signals, for example at thelocation of a power plug or the like, so as to more effectively filterinterference or the like. The construction of the various circuitcomponents allow the surge protection and filtering networks to beformed in a simple and miniaturized manner to simply slip overconventional conductors provided on an electrical plug, power source, orother electrical circuit arrangement. All the circuit components may begrouped into one package and are simply and easily constructed into thefinal electrical or electromechanical equipment to reduce labor andconstruction costs as well as to provide a miniaturized and effectivecircuit arrangement. Additionally, the electrode arrangement isessentially leadless which reduces back EMF in the circuit and allowsfaster clamping and recovery while eliminating labor intensive wiring inthe circuit. For the particular application, the thickness of the platesof varistor or dielectric materials may be modified easily to yield thedesired amount of filtering and/or transient protection necessary. Theparticular construction also allows the capacitive and surge protectiondevices to be formed in the same small package construction to providedifferential and common mode protection against surges andelectromagnetic interference over a large frequency range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent upon a reading of the following detailed description inconjunction with the Figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic circuit of a conventional filter circuitarrangement to provide filtering of electromagnetic interference;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic of a phase balanced filter in accordance withthe present invention to provide transient protection and filterelectromagnetic interference;

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged and simplified view of the circuit arrangementshown in FIG. 2 associated with a power outlet usable with electricaland electromechanical devices;

FIG. 4 shows a front view of the electrical outlet shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged simplified construction for a coupling adapterusable with electrical and electromechanical devices;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the coupling adapter shown in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7a and 7b show the electrode patterns formed on two cooperatingdisks or wafers which are stacked alternately in intimate contact toform a conditioning circuit component in accordance with the invention.The electrode patterns for each disk may be formed on one or both sidesof the disks.

FIG. 8 shows a graph showing the change in insertion losscharacteristics as grounding lead wire length is changed for some commoncapacitor arrangements.

FIGS. 9a and 9b show the electrode patterns for additional wafers tovary capacitance values in a two cooperating disks which are stackedalternately in intimate contact and which may be used to produce thenecessary capacitance values or line conditioning circuit formed inaccordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 10a and 10b show an alternate embodiment of electrode patternsformed on two cooperating disks which are stacked alternately inintimate contact to form a line conditioning circuit component which hasa peripheral ground connection;

FIGS. 11a and 11b show another alternate embodiment of the electrodepatterns of two cooperating disks which are stacked alternately inintimate contact for a capacitive network to provide peripheral groundin a circuit constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGS. 12a and 12b show an alternate embodiment for electrode patternsfor a surge protection device usable with telecommunication systemswherein the patterns may be formed on opposed surfaces of a single diskor formed on a surface of a number of disks which are alternatelystacked in intimate contact; and

FIGS. 13 and 14 show a side and exploded view respectively of analternate embodiment of a surge protection device in accordance with theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to FIG. 1, a conventional protective circuit 10 is shown inschematic form and represents an interference filter with surgeprotection for an alternating current electrical network having a phaseconductor indicated at terminal 12 and a neutral conductor at terminal14 and a ground conductor shown at 13. The supply terminal 12, a neutralconductor terminal 14 may be coupled between a source of electromagneticinterference and the consumer side of the circuit having terminals 16and 18. The circuit 10 may comprise sections 20, 22, 24 and 26 toprovide various circuit characteristics. Circuit section 20 is relatedto surge protection circuitry and may comprise a plurality of surgearresters V1, V2, and V3 which may be surge arresters made of ZnO orother material having similar characteristics surge arresters. The surgearrester V1 is connected between phase conductor terminal 12 and neutralconductor 14 with varistors V2 and V3 also connected between theconductors in series and coupled to ground from a point therebetween.Circuit portion 22 is directed to a capacitive network to providefiltering characteristics for the circuit which may include a pluralityof capacitors C1, C2 and C3 wherein capacitor C1 is a common mode bypasscapacitor extending between the phase and neutral conductors andcapacitors C2 and C3 are coupled to the phase and neutral conductor andto ground respectively. The capacitive network provides a low passfilter which rejects, or bypasses to ground the higher frequenciespresent in typically encountered RFI, EMI or EMC interference andcompliance. An in line inductor or transformer 24 may be incorporated toprovide a relatively high impedance to surge components so as to act asa transient or noise suppression component. Another capacitive network26 similar to capacitive network 22 may include capacitive elements C4,C5 and C6 to provide additional noise suppression. The capacitivenetworks 22 and 26 may provide noise suppression of low frequency andhigh frequency noise depending upon the capacitance values chosen forthe various capacitors in each of thee networks. On the output side ofthe circuit 10 are output terminals 16 and 18 which may be coupled tothe consumer side of an electrical or electromechanical device.

In a circuit as found in FIG. 1, it has conventionally been the casethat the circuit components have been separate and are physicallycoupled to the conductors of a power line, data line or the like. Theconductors may be fed-through leads or leads to an individual element asdesired. For example, the varistors as shown in the circuit FIG. 1 mustbe physically electrically coupled to the conductor post of a plug orthe like by leads where the circuit is to be used. Similarly, individualcapacitors of a capacitor network must be coupled to the inductors byleads to yield line to line capacitors as well as coupling terminals ofthe capacitors to ground. This manufacturing is labor intensive and isphysically done in many circumstances yielding an inefficient and costlyproduction procedure.

The present invention is direct to circuit construction which providesan easily produced protective circuit which is more responsive as wellas being more cost effective. A protective circuit in accordance withthe invention is shown schematically in FIG. 2 and comprises inputconductors having terminals 30 and 32 being the phase and neutralconductors of an electrical plug or similar electrical couplingmechanism. A metal oxide varistor MOV network 34 is connected betweenthe phase and neutral conductors to provide pulse protection. As will bedescribed more particularly hereinafter, the MOV network is a wafer ofMOV or MOV-type material having a unique electrode pattern enabling thecircuit to be balanced over each line of the electrical system. This isachieved by a common electrode electrically coupling the phase, neutraland ground conductors in the system. This forms a balanced pulseprotection circuit to provide differential, common mode or cross lineprotection.

The capacitance network 36 having a first capacitor 37 having capacitorplates 37a and 40a connected between the phase and neutral conductors.Also, formed in the network is a second capacitor 38 comprising plates37b and 38a which is connected between the phase and ground conductorsand a third capacitor 39 comprising plates 39a and 40b which isconnected between the neutral and ground conductors. In the capacitancenetwork, the capacitors include common electrodes wherein thecommonality between electrodes is accomplished by forming the electrodeson a common disk or wafer. The common electrodes are represented as seenin FIG. 2 in contrast to the normal representation of capacitiveelements similar to that found in FIG. 1. The electrodes or platesdesignated 37a and 37b as well as 40a and 40b are common electrodesformed as a single pattern on a disk of material. The separate functionsare obtained by isolation of the mating patterns as will be hereinaftermore fully described. The commonality of electrodes eliminates the needfor leads and gives excellent response characteristics for a broadfrequency band including relatively high frequencies and also achievesthe desired balance in the circuit.

An in-line inductor 41 may be used in a similar capacity as that shownin the circuit of FIG. 1 with another capacitive network 42 followingthe inductor 41 to provide additional filtering characteristics. Thecapacitive network 42 may include a first capacitor 43 connected betweenthe phase and neutral conductors and having electrodes or plates 43a and46a. A second capacitor 44 is connected between the phase and groundconductors and comprises plates 43b and 44a. A third capacitor 45 isconnected between the neutral and ground conductors and comprises plates45a and 46b. As previously described, the electrodes or platesdesignated 43a and 43b as well as 46a and 46b are common electrodesformed as a single pattern on a disk of material. Output terminals 46and 48 will be available on the consumer side of the circuit with pulseprotection and electromagnetic interference filtering achieved by thecircuit.

As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, one application of the circuit as seen in FIG.2 is shown in simplified form. FIG. 3 shows an electrical mains plugreceptacle which may be used to connect electrical equipment susceptibleto degradation from transients or electromagnetic interference from apower source.

The plug receptacle 50 is shown as including the circuit elements asseen in FIG. 2 wherein identical reference numerals have been used toindicate the general components thereof. The plug receptacle 50 includesa phase conductor 30 and neutral conductor 32 as well as a groundconductor 52 utilized to connect a typical electrical device such ascomputer or the like. The plug receptacle 50 may be utilized to replacea conventional plug outlet and may be coupled to a source of AC power ina conventional and simple manner. The MOV network 34 to provide pulseprotection is seen as a first flat plate or wafer constructed in thepreferred embodiment of a varistor material such as MOV material,encapsulated polymer MOV-type material or other materials having similarcharacteristics. The wafer 34 of pulse protective material will includeat least first and second parallel surfaces 53 and 54 which haveconductive coatings thereon as will be more particularly describedhereinafter. The plate or wafer 34 also includes apertures 55 thereinthrough which the conductors 30, 32 and 52 will pass. The conductorswill be electrically coupled to the conductive coatings on the surfacesof wafer 34 to provide pulse protection for the electrical equipmentcoupled thereto. It should be recognized that the varistor network 34 toprovide pulse protection will be simply slipped over the terminals orconductors after which electrical connection can be quickly and easilymade by a soldering process, a mechanical fastening arrangement or thelike. This will eliminate the use of lead wires to couple the circuitcomponents to conductors 30, 32 and 52 as well as to other circuitcomponents. It should be evident that the labor intensive aspects of theprior art are eliminated to provide an easy and cost effective method ofmanufacturing. Similarly, as the wires between the electrical componentsof the circuit have been eliminated, UL standards such as maintaining aproper distance between wires for safety have also been eliminated suchthat spacing does not need to be checked and quality assurance isautomatically incorporated into the construction. With this system,automation of the manufacturing techniques is possible thereby greatlyreducing the time and effort needed to construct such circuits.Similarly, as the circuit components have been consolidated onto asimple wafer of material, the entire circuit construction can beminiaturized to provide the desired high speed circuit protectioncharacteristics in an easily handled configuration.

After the varistor network 34, a capacitor network 36 is constructed ina similar manner and constitutes a wafer or plate of material such asceramic having dielectric characteristics to produce the desiredcapacitance values. As will be hereinafter described, the capacitivenetwork 36 will include first and second faces 56 and 57 on whichelectrode patterns will be formed. In the normal circumstance, thedesired capacitance value may be obtained by stacking a plurality ofthin film ceramics having electrode patterns formed thereon which coactwith one another to achieve the desired capacitance. Again, apertures 58are provided in the plate 36 forming capacitive network wherein theconductors 30, 52 and 32 will pass therethrough and will be electricallycoupled therewith. The conductors are then wound around a commontorridal core 60 to form inductor 40. The conductors are thenelectrically coupled to a second capacitive network 42 formed as a plateor wafer or ceramic material similar to the construction of capacitivenetwork 36. The two capacitive networks 36 and 42 may provide high andlow capacitive characteristics so that in parallel the capacitancevalues will provide low and high frequency filtering while passing thedesired frequency band of the alternating current. The desiredcapacitance values for the individual capacitors in these networks canbe achieved by forming a laminate construction of the dielectricmaterial having alternating electrodes formed on the laminations. Thethickness of the dielectric material between each of the electrodes willadd to the capacitance value of the network, and thus the proper numberof laminations will provide the desired capacitance. There are knownceramic monolithic capacitors which can be produced in this manner.

The entire protective circuit is placed in a small easily handledhousing 62 having a face plate 64 provided thereon for mounting in awall or the like. The conductors 30, 32 and 52 exit the housing 62 to becoupled to the source of AC power in a conventional manner. As seen inFIG. 4, the protective circuit arrangement may be simply provided in aplug receptacle similar to that used conventionally.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6, a similar protective circuit constructionmay be utilized with a plug adapter type arrangement 70 for use withplug-in type adapters found commonly associated with computers and otherelectrical equipment. In this construction, the electrical device itselfincludes protective circuitry and reliance upon protection at the sourceof electrical power is not necessary. The protective circuit is similarand may include a first MOV network 34 constituting a plate or wafer ofvaristor material having electrodes formed on the surface thereof. Afirst capacitive network 36 may be utilized for filteringcharacteristics and coupled to the live conductors of the adapter. Aninductor 40 which may comprise a printed circuit or wire wound inductorcomponent may be coupled in series with the phase conductor of thesystem. A second capacitive network 42 may then placed in parallel withthe first capacitive network to provide further filteringcharacteristics. The protective circuit arrangement is conveniently andcost effectively incorporated into a small, easily handled housing 72having the conductors exiting therefrom for conventional coupling withthe electrical device. The housing may include face plate 74 formounting thereof and a threaded fastening member 76 to allow coupling ofan outside line to the equipment. The ground terminal of the adapter 70may be adapted to be coupled with housing 72 to provide a box groundwherein the housing 72 will itself be grounded. It should be recognizedthat the embodiments shown are merely examples of the potentialapplications of the protective circuit arrangement as described herein.For example, the circuit components can be utilized individually or incombination to provide surge protection and/or filteringcharacteristics. Essentially, any time a power receptacle orinput/output terminal forms part of an electrical device, the circuitarrangement could be used.

Turning now to FIGS. 7a and 7b, there is shown the electrode patternsfor disk components which are assembled alternately, either as a diskhaving an electrode pattern on both sides, or as a plurality of diskshaving an electrode pattern on a single side thereof, with the pluralityof disks stacked and fired as a monolithic assembly, wherein theelectrode pattern on any disk fuses to it and to the adjacent disk inthe stack. The resulting line conditioning component is usable as a MOVcircuit component 34 and/or capacitive networks 36 and 42 as shown inthe embodiments of FIGS. 3-6. For use as a surge protection circuit, astack of alternated wafers of material 90 such as an MOV or othersimilar material is constructed having thicknesses in accordance withany possible transients in a particular application. In FIG. 7a, a firstsurface 94 of the wafer 90 shows the electrode pattern formed thereonwith three apertures 92 formed therethrough wherein electricalconductors will be electrically coupled. The electrode pattern formed onthe first surface 94 of wafer 90 includes a first common electrode 96electrically connected to at least one of the apertures 92, the couplinglocations for the conductors in a circuit arrangement. A secondelectrode 98 formed on surface 94 has an insulating band 100 therearoundto electrically isolate the first and second electrodes 96 and 98. Aninsulating band 97 is also formed around one of the apertures 92 so asnot to electrically connect the electrode to any conductor at thispoint. An insulating band 99 is also formed about the periphery of thewafer 90 such that the conductors of a plug or adapter type electricalcomponent may be coupled to the ground circuit internally. The patternon the face 94 of disk 90 thus described consists of two isolatedelectrodes, each connected to one of the apertures 92 which may receivethrough conductors therein. The electrodes formed on the wafer 90 asshown in FIG. 7a may be described as two separate half capacitors. Theother halves of the capacitors will be the conductive patterns formed onthe back or obverse surface of disk 90, by means of two possiblemethods. These methods may include forming the electrode pattern of FIG.7a on the obverse surface of the disk 90 or alternatively providing adisk 91 as shown in FIG. 7b including the electrode pattern as shownformed on a first surface thereof which may be placed behind the disk 90as shown in FIG. 7a such that its electrode pattern will be common tothe obverse surface of the disk 90. In this method, the surface of disk91 including the electrode pattern will be in intimate contact with thedisk 90 either by soldering or after the monolithic firing fuses theelectrode patterns on disk 91 to both disks 90 and 91. The electrodepattern on the disk 91 as seen in FIG. 7b includes a large, nearlycomplete circular electrode pattern 102 which will cooperate withelectrode 96 formed on wafer 90 as seen in FIG. 7a to form a capacitorwhose plates correspond to capacitor 37 of FIG. 2, connected between thephase and neutral leads 30 and 32 respectively. The small top surfaceelectrode 98 formed on wafer 90 as seen in FIG. 7a will cooperate with asimilarly shaped but slightly larger area of the electrode pattern 102formed on wafer 91 as seen in FIG. 7b to form a capacitor correspondingto the capacitor 39 of FIG. 2, connected between the ground and neutralleads 52 and 32 respectively. A third capacitor is formed by theelectrode 104 formed on wafer 91 as seen in FIG. 7b and a similarlyshaped, although slightly larger portion of the electrode 96 as seen inFIG. 7a which will correspond to the capacitor 38 of FIG. 2 between theground 52 and phase lead 30.

It should be apparent that a stack of plates with alternating electrodepatterns of FIG. 7a and 7b may be rendered monolithic by firing, and maycontain many repetitions of these three essential circuit elements, witheach additional plate adding parallel elements to them such that theywill be combined to form a line conditioning circuit component having atotal value for an electrical parameter which is the sum of the finalstack of plates including the alternating electrode patterns of FIG. 7aand 7b.

The monolithic stack of wafers may be utilized as a surge protectiondevice if formed of an MOV or MOV-type material, with these twosymmetrical patterns alternately located in the unit, or built up fromindividual wafers of alternating type. It must be emphasized that suchwafers must have identical patterns bonded on both faces, and be stackedalternately. The circuit will act to provide differential or common modeprotection as well as cross line protection for the circuit in which thestack assembly of alternating disks 90 and 91 as seen in FIG. 7a and 7bis utilized. The protective characteristics of the MOV circuit elementconstructed in accordance with FIG. 7a and 7b will depend upon thethickness of the wafers of MOV or MOV-type material and upon the numberof them assembled into the stack, but it should be recognized thatconstraints are imposed by maintaining the path of least resistance fora transient current through the material rather than discharging alonganother path such as an insulating band. It should also be apparent thatthe elimination of lead lengths to electrically couple conductors to thesurge protection element will result in faster clamping of a surgevoltage to provide excellent response characteristics by reducinginsertion loss in the circuit.

As an example, the graph of FIG. 8 shows the change in insertion lossrelative to frequency for a disk type three terminal capacitor relativeto feed through and two-terminal capacitors. The graph displays thechange in insertion loss when the grounding lead wire length is changedin the disk type three-terminal capacitor. The present inventionprovides a three-terminal circuit component having a higher insertionloss impedance such that its response characteristics will approachthose of a feed through capacitor but having a resonance point above theresonance of a common two-terminal device. The device thus enablesextremely fast clamping of surges and electromagnetic interference forcommon, differential or cross mode protection of sensitive electricalequipment.

Alternatively, the line conditioning circuit component composed ofalternately stacked wafers as shown in FIG. 7a and 7b with the electrodepatterns shown thereon may provide a capacitive network for filtering ofelectromagnetic and radio frequency interference. In this embodiment,the wafers 90 and 91 are made from a dielectric material, and the wafers90 effectively have electrode patterns as shown in FIG. 7a on both frontand obverse surfaces thereof. The electrode patterns on the frontsurface 94 may be directly applied to the wafer 90, while that on theobverse surface may have been either directly applied, or have beenbonded to disk 90 by an electrode pattern similar to that shown in FIG.7b from the front surface 95 on another disk 91 stacked in contact withthe obverse surface of disk 90 before firing to make it a monolithicunit. The three capacitors thus formed share common electrodes, but areessentially connected between pairs of leads as shown in FIG. 2, anddescribed above in connection with the MOV-type circuit component.

For use as a capacitive network, the embodiment of FIG. 7a and 7b willrepresent a series of capacitors having particular capacitance valuesdepending upon the thickness of the dielectric material making up thewafers 90 and 91. Variation of the capacitance values may beaccomplished by the addition of wafers 110 alternated with wafers 111 asshown respectively in FIGS. 9a and 9b. The wafers are of dielectricmaterial having a predetermined thickness similar to the embodiment asshown in FIG. 7a and 7b. In FIG. 9a, an electrode pattern is shown asformed on the front surface of wafer 110. The patterns formed on itsrear or obverse surface will be either a monolithic sharing of thepatterns of FIG. 9b after stacking of the disks 110 and 111, or aduplicate of the electrode pattern as shown in FIG. 9a if the individualdisks are used.

In FIG. 9a, the front and obverse surfaces 112 may have a firstelectrode pattern 114 formed around a plurality of apertures 116. Theelectrode 114 is electrically coupled to one of the apertures 116 toenable electrical connection with a conductor positioned therethrough.The other apertures 116 are provided with insulating bands 118 formedtherearound to provide an electrical path which presents higherresistance than an electrical path through the dielectric material ofwafer 110. The obverse surface of wafer 110 has the electrode pattern122 from the disk 111 as seen in FIG. 9b, and therefore pattern 122 hasan electrical connection to a second feed-through aperture 116, and thethickness of the dielectric disk is stressed by the potential betweenthe phase lead 30 and the neutral lead 32. In general, the capacitanceof either phase or neutral conductors to the ground conductor 52 neednot be as large as that between the phase and neutral conductors foreffective filtering of RFI or EMI, but smaller stacks may optionally beused in parallel with capacitors 38 and 39 of FIG. 2 by threading leads30, 52 or 32, 52 through the apertures 116 respectively.

Turning now to FIGS. 10a and 10b, an alternate embodiment of the uniqueelectrode patterns provided for a conditioning circuit componentconstructed of wafers of MOV or MOV-type material as well as dielectricmaterials to form capacitive networks are shown. In FIG. 10, as thewafer 130 includes a first surface 132 having a plurality of apertures134 therethrough to accommodate a plurality of conductors of anelectrical device. A first electrode 136 is formed on first surface 132and is electrically coupled to one of the apertures 134 formed therein.Another electrode 138 is formed on surface 132 and is electricallycoupled with another of the apertures 134 formed therein. An insulatingband 140 surrounds electrode 138 and extends towards yet another of theapertures 134 formed therein. The insulating band 140 also extends abouta substantial portion of the periphery of the wafer 130. There is alsoformed an insulating band 142 formed about one of the apertures 134 onthe first surface 132 such that only two of the electrical conductorswhich will pass through apertures 134 formed in the wafer 130 will beelectrically connected to electrodes 136 and 138 respectively. In FIG.10b is depicted the electrode pattern applied to a second wafer 131which is placed behind wafer 130, so that the pattern is shared by wafer131 with the obverse side of disk 130. After monolithic firing, patterns136 on the face of disk 130 will cooperate with pattern 148 on theobverse surface from disk 131, and correspond with capacitor 37 of FIG.2, forming either a MOV or capacitor between leads 30 and 32 of FIG. 2,according to the type of material constituting disks 130 and 131. Theelectrode pattern 138 on the face of disk 130 cooperates with a portionof the pattern 148 which is essentially formed on the obverse surface bysharing with the electrode pattern applied to the face of the disk 131as seen in FIG. 10b which was stacked behind disk 130 and fused bymonolithic firing to produce a capacitor corresponding to capacitor 39of FIG. 2, if the disks are of a dielectric material, or a correspondingportion of the MOV 35 of FIG. 2 if the material is a MOV-type. Theelectrode pattern 139 shared on the obverse surface of disk 130 fromdisk 131 will cooperate with the portion of the electrode pattern 136formed on the front surface of disk 130 to form a capacitorcorresponding to capacitor 38 of FIG. 2 if the disks are of a dielectricmaterial, or a corresponding portion of MOV 35 as seen in FIG. 2 if thedisk are of a MOV-type material. Alternate stacking of disks 130 and 131with the electrode patterns formed thereon will increase thecapacitances of the various capacitors in the capacitance networks 36 or42 of FIG. 2 according to the total number of disks after a monolithicfiring of the stack of disks. It is also possible to apply the electrodepatterns as shown in FIG. 10a to both faces of disks of type 130 andstack alternately with disks of type 131 which have had the electrodepattern shown in FIG. 10b applied to both faces thereof.

In general, the monolithic firing construction is preferable to singledisks having double electrodes or electrodes formed on both surfacesthereof for a number of reasons. Firstly, the final assembly with leads30, 32 and 52 will be single unit rather a number of small fragilepieces which may crack if warping occurred during the firing of theindividual pieces. Additionally, the monolithic firing seals the manyinsulating bands between the various electrode areas, therebyeffectively excluding humidity and producing a more reliable assembly.Also in the monolithic firing construction, the electrode patterns willbe required on only a single surface of each disk which shares itspatterns with the preceding or succeeding one of alternate type, thushalving the work of applying the electrode patterns. It should berecognized that automation of the stacking process of unfired diskswhich are fed alternately to the assembly from two electrode paintingmachines can easily insure correct assembly, which is then sealed duringthe monolithic firing.

The particular advantage of the monolithic stack of disks with theelectrode patterns as seen in FIGS. 10a and 10b is the fact that theelectrode patterns 138 and 139 extend to the periphery of the stack,where they may make electrical contact with a ground potential sleevesurrounding the assembly. It should be evident that this constructioncan be used with the surge protection device if disks are of MOV-typematerial, and/or capacitance networks as described. As a capacitancenetwork, the capacitance can be varied by increasing the number ofalternate layers with the electrode patterns of FIGS. 10a and 10b.

Turning now to FIGS. 11a and 11b, an alternate embodiment of theelectrode patterns are shown which may be used for example to formelectrode patterns on wafers of a dielectric material for a capacitancenetwork useable with telephone line applications to reduce interferencethereon. In this embodiment, a wafer of dielectric material 150 has afirst surface 152 and includes a plurality of apertures 154 toaccommodate electrical conductors therein. A first electrode 156 isformed on the surface 152 and is electrically coupled to one of theapertures 154 formed therein. A second electrode 158 is formed aboutanother of the apertures 154 and is separated from electrode 156 by aninsulating band 160. The third aperture 154 includes an insulating band162 formed therearound on first surface 152. Additionally, a metalground electrode 164 is formed relative to one of the apertures 154 soas to form a thin conductive band 166 separated from the metal groundelectrode 164 by a thin insulating band 168. The insulating band 168also extends about a substantial portion of the periphery of the wafer150. As seen in FIG. 11b, a second disk 151 of the same material as disk150 is provided with an electrode pattern which is a mirror image of theelectrode pattern on disk 150 which is designed to be placed behind disk150, so that the electrode patterns formed on disk 151 will be sharedwith the obverse surface of disk 150 and by disk 151 after firing toform a monolithic block. The major electrode area 156 of the top surfaceof disk 150 as shown in FIG. 11a will cooperate with the major areaelectrode 157 formed on disk 151 and shared with the obverse surface ofdisk 150, corresponding to capacitor 37 of FIG. 2 between the phase andneutral leads 30 and 32 respectively. The smaller top electrode area 158formed on disk 150 will cooperate with the ground connection pattern 165formed on the top surface of disk 151 and shared by the obverse surfaceof disk 150, similar to capacitor 39 of FIG. 2. Similarly, the smallelectrode pattern 159 formed on the front surface of disk 151 as shownin FIG. 11b will cooperate with the ground connection electrode 164formed on the front surface of disk 150, which will correspond tocapacitor 38 of FIG. 2. These patterns function as pulse limiters if thedisk 150 and 151 are of a MOV-type material and as filter circuitslimiting RFI/EMI if the disks are a dielectric material. The capacitancevalues can of course be built up to any necessary values by extendingthe stack of disks having alternate electrode patterns to any necessarynumber of plates, as previously described.

Turning now to FIGS. 12a and 12b, another embodiment of the inventionshows the electrode patterning to form a surge protection circuit usablewith telecommunication circuits between tip, ring and ground which havein the past required one, two or sometimes three separate varistors toachieve the balanced protection desired. Normally, telephone conductorsoccur in pairs in a cable such that transient voltages induced into theconductors will be common to both tip and ring conductors. If protectorsacross each of the conductors should break down at differentovervoltages or if they respond at different times to a transientcurrent, the transient will flow through the load causing damage to thecommunication circuit. The balanced protection circuit of the presentinvention therefore will ensure that the problem of unbalanced breakdownwill not occur while not affecting normal ring voltage peaks occurringacross the telephone conductors. As seen in FIG. 12a, a wafer 200 of MOVor MOV-type material has a plurality of apertures 202 therein throughwhich telephone conductors may be positioned. The wafer of MOV materialincludes a first surface 204 having a first and second electrode 206 and208 thereon, each of which is electrically connected to one of theapertures 202. A third aperture 202 is electrically insulated from theelectrodes by an insulating band 210 which also extends between theelectrodes and around the periphery of the wafer 200. If a single diskwere to be used, which may be sufficient for a MOV-type pulse limiter,the electrode pattern of FIG. 12b would be applied to the obverse of thedisk with the electrode pattern as shown in FIG. 12a on its face. But ifit is desired to also limit RFI/EMI by the capacitance of the MOV orMOV-type material, the patterns would be applied to alternate diskswhich would be stacked and fired to a monolithic structure similar tothat previously described. It should be noted that the pair of electrodepatterns shown in FIGS. 12a and 12b do not limit common mode pulses toground, such that it may be desirable to use these in conjunction withother configurations as previously described. As seen in FIG. 12b asecond surface 212 of wafer 200 includes an electrode pattern 214 formedon its surface and electrically coupled with the aperture 202 having theinsulating band 210 therearound from the first surface 204. The otherapertures 202 are formed with insulating bands 216 to thereby insulateelectrode 214 from the conductors passing therethrough. The electrodeson the first and second surfaces 204 and 212 respectively having the MOVmaterial positioned therebetween will function as a balanced surgeprotection circuit for the telephone conductors passing there through.In this way, the surge protection circuit may be used in atelecommunication circuit between tip, ring and ground wherein balancedprotection for the circuit will be achieved.

Turning now to FIGS. 13 and 14, there is shown another embodiment of theinvention to provide surge protection in an electrical circuit. Thedevice 250 includes a thickness of MOV or MOV-type material 252 which isdesigned to accommodate any expected over voltages which may occuracross the power and return conductors 254 and 255 in the circuit. Thewafer of material 252 has first and second surfaces over which metalplates 256 and 258 are positioned. The wafer of MOV material 252 as wellas the plates 256 and 258 include aligned apertures therein to allow thepower and return conductors 254 and 255 as well as a ground conductor260 to pass therethrough and to be electrically coupled to the circuitdevice as will be hereinafter described. At the location of the groundconductor 260, an at an intermediate location embedded within the MOVmaterial 252, is a third electrode plate 262. The electrode plate 262also extends upwardly within the wafer 252 toward the location of thepower conductors in the circuit. As seen with reference to FIG. 14, anexploded view of the electrode plates having the conductors passingtherethrough wherein the MOV or MOV-type material not shown in thisFigure will be interposed between the plates as shown in FIG. 13, theelectrical connections with the conductors 254, 255 and 260 are shown.To form a phase balanced circuit in accordance with the presentinvention, the power conductor 254 is electrically connected to theelectrode plate 258 but is electrically insulated from electrode plate256 by means of an insulating band 264 formed on plate 256 therearound.Similarly, return conductor 255 is electrically insulated from electrodeplate 258 by an insulating band 266 but is electrically coupled withplate 256. The ground conductor 260 is electrically insulated from eachof the plates 256 and 258 by means of insulating bands 267 and 268. Theground conductor 260 is electrically coupled to the electrode plate 262to form a common ground in the circuit discharging through the MOV orsimilar type material formed between plates 256 and 258.

The device as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 represents a phase balanceddevice which provides surge protection and alleviates the problem ofunbalanced breakdown in the circuit. It should be recognized that thedevice as shown in FIG. 13 is very small and compact and is easilypositioned over electrical conductors of a circuit to provide surgeprotection thereto. It should also be recognized that the electrodearrangement in association with a wafer of MOV or similar materialprovides a simply manufactured device having an ideal electrodearrangement which eliminates lead lengths and provides better operatingcharacteristics. As an example, when the potential across the power andreturn conductors 254 and 255 is a voltage V1, and the potential betweenthese conductors and ground is a voltage V2 being approximately half ofthe voltage V1, by interposing the electrode plate 262 half way betweenelectrode plates 256 and 258 in the wafer 252, a phase balanced deviceis easily and economically achieved as only half of the thickness of MOVmaterial is disposed between plates 256 and 258 relative to plate 262 toaccommodate the voltage V2 as desired. It is of course recognized thatthe configuration or location of plate 262 could be modified to reflectthe relationship between voltages V1 and V2.

Although the principles, preferred embodiments and preferred operationof the present invention have been described in detail herein, this isnot to be construed as being limited to the particular illustrativeforms disclosed. It will thus become apparent to those skilled in theart that various modifications of the preferred embodiments herein canbe made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A line conditioning electrical circuit componentfor use with an electrical device comprising,at least one wafer ofmaterial having predetermined electrical properties, with first andsecond opposed surfaces and a plurality of apertures extending throughsaid wafer to receive electrical conductors of said electrical device,first and second electrode patterns formed on said first and secondopposed surfaces respectively with individual electrodes of each of saidfirst and second electrode patterns being electrically connected to atleast one of said electrical conductors of said electrical device at thelocation of said apertures, wherein said individual electrodes of saidfirst electrode pattern cooperate with individual electrodes of saidsecond electrode pattern, and in conjunction with said material of saidwafer form a plurality of line conditioning electrical elements actingbetween said electrical conductors, and at least one individualelectrode of at least one of said first and second electrode patternsforming a common electrode for at least two of said line conditioningelectrical elements, whereby a balanced line conditioning circuitcomponent is formed.
 2. An electrical circuit component as in claim 1,wherein,said at least one wafer of material is constructed of adielectric material, and said plurality of circuit elements formed bysaid first and second electrode patterns in conjunction with saiddielectric material are capacitors forming a capacitance network usableas a filter for interference generated over said electrical conductors.3. An electrical circuit component as in claim 2, wherein,said thicknessof said wafer of dielectric material determines the capacitance valuesfor individual capacitors formed by said first and second electrodepatterns in conjunction with said dielectric material.
 4. An electricalcircuit component as in claim 1, wherein,said at least one wafer ofmaterial is constructed of an MOV-type material, and said plurality ofcircuit elements formed by said first and second electrode patterns onsaid at least one wafer in conjunction with said MOV-type material arecapacitors which provide filtering until said MOV-type material goesconductive wherein said plurality of circuit elements become surgeprotection elements providing protection against transient currentsurges or overvoltages.
 5. An electrical circuit component as in claim4, wherein,said predetermined uniform thickness of said waferconstructed of an MOV-type material determines the amount of capacitanceand surge protection provided by said circuit elements.
 6. An electricalcircuit component as in claim 1, wherein,said first and second electrodepatterns are reverse images of one another as viewed through said atleast one wafer of material.
 7. An electrical circuit component as inclaim 1, wherein,individual electrodes forming said first and secondelectrode patterns are insulated from one another by means of insulatingbands formed on said first or second surfaces of said wafer or at thelocation of said apertures wherein said insulating bands provide anelectrical path which presents higher resistance than an electrical paththrough the material from which said at least one wafer is constructed.8. An electrical circuit component as in claim 1, wherein,said pluralityof conductors include supply, neutral and ground conductors whereinthree of said apertures are provided in said at least one wafer toaccommodate said electrical conductors, and one individual electrode ofsaid first and second electrode patterns is electrically coupled to oneof said supply or neutral conductors and to said ground conductorrespectively.
 9. An electrical circuit component as in claim 8,wherein,said electrode of said first and second electrode patterns whichis electrically connected to said ground conductor extends toward one ofthe apertures which accommodates said supply or neutral conductors so asto form a shortened electrical path between said electrode and one ofsaid supply or neutral conductors.
 10. An electrical circuit componentas in claim 1, further comprising,an insulating band surrounding saidfirst and second electrode patterns on the periphery of said at lest onewafer so as to electrically isolate said first and second electrodepatterns on said first and second surfaces of said at least one wafer.11. An electrical circuit component as in claim 1, further comprising,athird electrode formed in conjunction with said first and secondelectrode patterns which is a common electrode in said first and secondelectrode patterns and extends about the periphery of said at least onewafer to provide a ground electrode which will be directly electricallyconnected to ground external to said electrical circuit component. 12.An electrical circuit component as in claim 1, further comprising,athird electrode pattern associated with said at least one wafer ofmaterial and disposed between said first and second electrode patternswithin said wafer of material wherein said third electrode pattern iselectrically connected to at least one of said plurality of electricalconductors.
 13. A line conditioning electrical circuit component for usewith an electrical device comprising,at least one first wafer ofmaterial having predetermined electrical properties, with first andsecond opposed surfaces and a plurality of apertures extending throughsaid first wafer to receive electrical conductors of said electricaldevice, a first electrode pattern formed on said first surface of saidfirst wafer with individual electrodes of said first electrode patternbeing electrically connected to at least one of said electricalconductors of said electrical device at the location of said apertures,at least one second wafer of material having said predeterminedelectrical properties, with first and second opposed surfaces and aplurality of apertures extending through said second wafer correspondingto said apertures of said first wafer to receive electrical conductorsof said electrical device, a second electrode pattern formed on saidfirst surface of said second wafer with individual electrodes of saidsecond electrode pattern being electrically connected to at least one ofsaid electrical conductors of said electrical device at the location ofsaid apertures, said at least one second wafer being stacked adjacentsaid second surface of said at least one first wafer, wherein saidsecond electrode pattern formed on said at least one second wafer willbe associated with said second surface of said at least one first waferand individual electrodes of said first electrode pattern cooperate withindividual electrodes of said second electrode pattern, such that inconjunction with said material of said wafer, there is formed aplurality of line conditioning electrical elements acting between saidelectrical conductors, and at least one individual electrode of each ofsaid first and second electrode patterns forms a common electrode for atleast two of said line conditioning electrical elements, whereby abalanced line conditioning circuit component is formed.
 14. Anelectrical circuit component as in claim 13, wherein,a plurality offirst and second wafers are stacked in alternating relationship to oneanother such that individual electrodes of said first and secondelectrode patterns of each adjacent alternating first and second waferscooperate to form said line conditioning electrical elements.
 15. Anelectrical circuit component as in claim 14, wherein,said material is adielectric material, wherein said line conditioning electrical elementsare capacitors forming a capacitance network usable as a filter forinterference generated over said conductors and the thickness of thestacked first and second wafers determines the capacitance values ofsaid capacitors.
 16. An electrical circuit arrangement including lineconditioning circuit to provide conditioning for a plurality ofelectrical conductors comprising;a plurality of electrical conductorscoupled to a source of current and to a load energized by said currenthaving at least one line conditioning circuit component which iselectrically connected in series with said plurality of conductorsbetween said load, said at least one line conditioning circuit componentcomprising at least one wafer of material with predetermined electricalproperties having a predetermined thickness and first and second opposedsurfaces, said wafer having a plurality of apertures therethrough toaccommodate said plurality of electrical conductors, and first andsecond electrode patterns formed on said first and second surfacesrespectively wherein individual electrodes of said first and secondelectrode patterns are electrically connected to at least one of saidplurality of electrical conductors at the location of said apertures andcooperate with individual electrodes of the other electrode pattern inconjunction with the material making up said at least one wafer toprovide common electrodes for a plurality of electrical circuitcomponents and form a balanced line conditioning circuit arrangement forsaid plurality of electrical conductors.
 17. An electrical circuitarrangement as in claim 16, wherein,said at least one line conditioningcircuit component includes a surge protection component and filtercomponent wherein said surge protection device includes said at leastone wafer which is constructed of an MOV-type material and said filtercomprises at least one wafer constructed of a dielectric material toprovide surge protection and filtering of electromagnetic interferenceoccurring over said plurality of electrical conductors.
 18. Anelectrical circuit arrangement as in claim 16, wherein,said at least oneline conditioning circuit component is electrically connected to saidplurality of electrical conductors by positioning said conductorsthrough said apertures and forming an electrical connection between saidplurality of conductors and one of said first and second electrodepatterns so as to incorporate said at least one line conditioningcircuit component into said electrical circuit without the use of leadsforming an electrical connection therebetween.
 19. An electrical circuitarrangement as in claim 16, wherein,said at least one line conditioningcircuit component is a surge protection device wherein said at least onewafer of material is constructed of an MOV-type material to providebalanced surge protection for said plurality of electrical conductors.20. An electrical circuit arrangement as in claim 16, wherein,said atleast one line conditioning circuit component is a filter forinterference occurring over the said plurality of electrical conductorswherein said at least one wafer of material is constructed of adielectric material and said line conditioning circuit componentcomprises a capacitance network.